July4th {Part 2} - The Goldsberrys

We spent the evening of the 4th at my brother Matt's house in Herriman.
(Less than 15 minutes from Copperton Park... we couldn't have planned it better)

 

Grandma and Calle on the patio swing. 

Mar and I have concluded that we simply must have a patio swing at our house.

Someday. Preferably in the next couple of years. 

Our patio needs a re-do ($$$$), and in our dreams we would have the swing incorporated into a lovely wood awning secured in fresh new cement attached to our beautiful built-in rock firepit (to be located where our non-prolific garden currently struggles to produce even a simple zucchini).

Or, as Mar suggested, we could purchase a free-standing one like Matt and Lia's in the interim, since that big-money dream seems a bit out of reach for now.

The perfect 4th of July BBQ spread. 

 More sweet Scarlett.

Yum yum. 

Mar, Larkin, Tay and Austin started a softball game...

...cheered on by enthusiastic onlookers.

Great Auntie Lia took a turn holding Scarlett (who, by the way, did NOT sleep the entire evening away, although she obviously was relaxed enough to sleep through much oooo-ing and ahhh-ing and being passed from one set of arms to another, brought to my attention only as I reviewed my pictures and had nary a one with her eyes open).

 Such a sweet face! I could just gobble her up.

 The softball game continued until dusk, adding new members along the way. Larkin took a swing break.

Great Auntie Jana took a turn holding Scarlett.

It was great to visit with Kim and Marty.

 Lynnea and Tay outfielding with style (some dance moves going on... I wish I had it on video).

 Jon's turn at bat.

 Bill pitching with flair (more dance moves happening here).

I consider this a brilliant point-and-shoot camera moment. Lincoln was playing with Conan towards the back of the yard, I was standing on the patio a fair distance away. The sun was setting and the light was getting dim. This shot was sandwiched in between two awful-blurry shots of the same event. 

I'm calling it my shot of the day.

 More swinging. We all fell in love with Matt and Lia's amazing public-park-quality swing set.

 The weather couldn't have been more perfect,
the skies couldn't have been more beautiful,
the company couldn't have been better.

Lia's birthday was the following day, so we celebrated with song.

And cake.

And candles.

And cupcakes.

And ice cream. 

Yum-O.

 

You may be thinking that we slipped Scarlett some of Santa's Secret Potion.

Nope. (Of course not!)

 This was not my point-and-shoot camera's finest moment, as I was hoping to get Lex and Jason in focus, but it did a pretty nice job with that firework exploding over their heads.

We were delighted with the awesome show in the sky, as large, beautiful fireworks literally exploded all around us. We were grateful that some people (not us) enjoy spending their hard-earned dollar on such fleeting-but-beautiful displays of light. These types of personal aerial fireworks are illegal in CO, and fireworks in general are pretty much reserved for large controlled displays usually observed from great distances (because we hate fighting crowds). Our grocery stores and Costcos and Sam's Clubs do not carry the enormous packages full of an assortment of fireworks found in UT stores. 

Our CO stores carry snappers and party poppers. Blah.

 Matt had purchased a box of assorted fireworks, so we all gathered on the front lawn to watch the show.

 Meredith and Mar...

I tried a few different settings on my camera, but concluded that I could either get a {somewhat} good firework shot OR a {somewhat} good people shot. I couldn't get both.

 

A few more {what I would consider} brilliant point-and-shoot moments:

Good night, sweet Scarlett.

Such a perfect day.